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Yes.
Yes, but the point is that their is a certain hard-nosed, dependable and professional approach that a segment of us feel has been lacking for some time. Definition facilitates the conversation.
Sorry for my wording.
That's the ending that I wanted to see in a Craig Bond movie.
Basically, we are looking for the term for the opposite of an auteur(TM), right? Instead of someone with a "distinctive approach" and "unique style" who makes the film their own, we are looking for (the term for) someone who kind of subordinates themselves to the needs of the franchise and the film. Who doesn't see the need to change or invert or satirize the series to suit their own ideas, but looks to make the best possible film out of what is there in the genre and the previous series.
I like the term artisan, eventhough it isn't widely used in the film space. Basically, the way I understand the words (not a native English-speaker) an artist would be someone who makes artistic pieces ment for artistic and aesthetic consideration. Little practical use; a lot of thought behind it. Probably a lot of unique pieces. An artisan still has a creative touch, but creates products with practical use. Thirdly, a craftsman (who is workmanlike) is still a highly-skilled worker but someone who does more basic things with little to no artistic and aesthetic intent and probably a lot of repetition and high volume.
That was a lot of text on something totally uninteresting ^^
Nailed it.
To me, the point of Bond films is that they're fairly ordinary, slightly hokey even, material which is elevated by the rather unnecessary talent working on it. John Barry, Ken Adam, Sean Connery, Sam Mendes, Roger Deakins etc. - massive (and Oscar-winning) talents who shouldn't really be working on something so silly, but their presence makes the Bond films into a much classier and better thing; much like Fleming's fantastic prose made his slightly silly spy plots so wonderful and delicious to read. So no, I don't think getting average journeymen directors fits Bond at all.
It’s funny that you should mention Donner and McTiernan. The television show-like quality of LTK did bother me at the time. Around then (within a couple of years) DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON were released, and I remember in both instances sitting in the theater thinking “This is the type of excitement and polish, as well as that dialed in audience vibe, that I used to experience during Bond films.”
I've even started to recently wonder if Dalton wouldn't have been better with another director. I look at some of his other films around the time like Rocketeer and he really bursts off the screen in a way he never did as Bond IMO.
But I take the point that Glen was clearly inferior to both (I'd put Campbell above Glen, personally) and another director just like either of those two would have given both TLD and LTK a bit more energy while still kept the intense performances and grittier action that all Dalton fans love.
Agree about Campbell, and Mendes for SF, but not for SP.
SP should have been Craig's YOLT, leading into his final TMWTGG. It would have been nice to see the final two-novel Bond arc play out, but Eon was stuck because they didn't have Craig signed to two films in 2014. (I don't think said arc would work with two different actors. Way too confusing for the new Bond/the general audience. A brainwashed yet new Bond would lead to all sorts of code name theory confusion for the viewers.)
And don't forget Mendes is the one who brought along John Logan and Thomas Newman, clearly two of the weaker contributors to SP.
A major issue with NTTD (the so-so chemistry between Seydoux and Craig) started with Mendes.
A chemistry thought experiment: what if Vesper didn't die in CR, and instead she took the place of Madeleine in NTTD? Would that make you think about NTTD differently?
Nice to know some fans got the ending they wanted then.
Mendes lost track of the story in SP, but he still made it feel like Bond, which is what I’m talking about. I also very much disagree that Newman was a weakness: I much prefer his score to Zimmer’s, and again: it feels more Bond to me.
I don’t think I agree, but regardless: they’re famous directors good enough to be known by their names alone, which Glen and even Campbell weren’t; and Eon certainly would never have considered anyone like them pre-90s.
I enjoyed Fukunaga's direction in NTTD, especially in most of the action, but I did miss the style aspect of Bond. I'd happily have Fukunaga back for 26, I'd just give him more time to perfect the script and story
I would say that in order for this to work the creative team, especially the scriptwriting team, needs a bit of a shake up for Bond 26. We've had situations in the last two Bond films where so many different writers have had input into the script. Sometimes it's a positive, but other times we've had things like Blofeld and Bond being foster brothers, Bond 'dying' due to the main actor essentially demanding a dramatic death scene (presumably after watching Logan). I do think Spectre would have been a much stronger film had the script gone through another couple of drafts, and NTTD would have been improved by someone saying 'no' more often to certain things. Basically I think they need less writers and perhaps a 'creative head' who will be able to bridge the story ideas into the direction of the film (in a sense this might be a case for the 'auteur' director, but oh well).
I don't think it's super likely and I have no idea whether that would be a good thing or not. I think having someone be in creative control without necessarily being the director could be good, but it could of course also just be a source of irritation between the Heads of Department, Director, Producers and Actors (it basically hinges on whether the person is good, lol).
Another problem is that I'm not aware of any tried and true Bond veterans except for the Broccolis and P&W who would have the credibility to step into such a role - maybe there are more behind the scenes people who could do this? - and it would be a huge gamble to pick someone who hasn't actually worked on these films for such an important role.
I never had any doubt in my mind that Dalton was not with the right director for his tenure. He needed someone that played his strengths, particularly for LTK.
Absolutely. You probably would have to go with proper craftsmen directors from TV like Miguel Sapochnik or Lesli Linka Glatter, who was already mentioned and even then "We want you for the biggest project of your career, but you won't get the full credit for it" isn't the greatest sales pitch.
Nor the appropriate writers !!! LTK, in particular, was a TV Movie of the Week with the Rogue Law Enforcement Agent going after the Big Bad Drug Dealer...ugh. With the stoooooooooopid insertions of the TV preacher bit and the pre-teen jealousy bit by Pam. Good grief...
Yes I know LTK here is very much loved but I find it very flawed to say the least. I always felt like it was a generic 80s action movie where Bond has a loooong cameo, as if he'd been lost outside his own world.
Is this a reality contest?
Didn’t see this coming, at all, 😂
The next Bond movie, in my opinion (as is everything I write, of course), should be different from Craig's entire era - without copying, resorting to try to really emulate the style from previous Bond eras. Spectre is an example of giving us a "lighter" Bond that just did not work for me. It felt, overall, hollow.
So yes, I would be really happy if Cary directed again. I'll have to think about any other directors. I don't want a "hot, new" or very "auteur" director coming in and stamping the next Bond movie with a style that doesn't fit well for Bond. I think Cary really gave us great Bondian moments and overall tone in NTTD. EON and the writers are the real focus and manufacturers of what will be next in store for 007.